1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of cutting tools and cutting elements and, more specifically, to self-renewing cutting tools and elements for cutting hard materials such as metals or metallic structures that may be in aqueous environments.
2. Background Information
Conventional cutting tools and elements for cutting metals and other tough surfaces may be made of a superhard material such as tungsten carbide. While conventional cutting tools and elements provide good performance under normal operating conditions and loads, they may not be suitable for applications in which harsh environmental conditions are present or high loads must be applied to cut large and or very complex structures. For example, in certain large scale demolition operations, it is often desirable or necessary to cut completely through a large objects comprised at least in part of metal or other difficult to cut surfaces in order to section them into more manageable sized to effect removal. Depending upon the environment in which the demolition takes place, including the orientation and balance of the object(s) to be cut, as well as the size and hardness of the object being cut or abraded, it may be impractical or unsafe to perform such cutting other than by tools which can be actuated some distance from the point of the cut.
Under normal operating conditions, conventional cutting tools will wear and eventually become dull or damaged which, in turn, reduces cutting performance. Under difficult operating conditions or sustained high loads (or both), conventional cutting tools tend to wear at an accelerated rate, leading to increased downtime to replace worn or broken tools. In addition, the basic geometries of conventional cutting tools may not be appropriate or effective for cutting objects that are massive and/or complex (e.g., an object made of multiple materials and/or systems, or a submerged structure).
As shown in the literature, one known approach to cutting massive and/or complex objects is to braze pieces of a superhard material, such as tungsten carbide, to a surface of a tool. That approach suffers from at least one major disadvantage. Because brazing does not provide a sufficiently strong bond between and among the pieces of superhard material, the braze material and the tool surface, the pieces of superhard material become dislodged during cutting operations. The loss of superhard pieces, in turn, degrades the performance of the tool thereby necessitating more frequent repair or replacement.